Cooking Off the Grid

You gotta' eat, right? Think of our friends on The
Walking Dead scooping pork and beans out of a can, cold
and old. However, some sources of food must be cooked
thoroughly in order to kill harmful bacteria. After
TEOTWAWKI, bacteria can kill you. Cooking over the
open fire will be common, but did you know that over
cooking off the grid could expose you to marauders?
The key to cooking off the grid is to do it efficiently and
safely, while maintaining operational security.

There are several survival cooking methods for when you
have to go off the grid. A big consideration will be availability
of power and fuel. We will examine several methods of cooking off
the grid that should be incorporated into your preparedness plan.
In addition to the various methods of cooking off the grid, there are
many products to prepare you for cooking off the grid such as cast iron
cookware, wood stoves and solar ovens.

The lure of the campfire. Romantic,
rustic taking in the spectacular scenery of the forest.
Modern camp stoves and specialized cookware may make the
camp's cook happy but nothing beats the taste and appeal
of a meal cooked over the campfire. Mastering the art of
campfire cooking is an essential survival skill for
preppers.

This is one of my favorites as it allows
for a dual purpose of heating your Bug Out Location as
well as providing an excellent method of cooking off the
grid.

Wood Burning Camp Stove

An excellent choice for cooking off the
grid is a wood burning camp stove, sometimes referred to
as a rocket stove. A rocket stove creates efficient
combustion by burning wood at a high temperature and its
design ensures a good air draft. There are rocket stoves
that are solar powered and the BioLite stove shown below
has a thermoelectric generator to generate electricity
suitable for powering USB devices. This particular stove
is portable, weighing only 2 lbs, and is capable of
boiling a liter of water in under 5 minutes.

The Hobo Stove

The homeless, formerly
known as hobos prior to the days of political
correctness, are some of modern society's greatest
survivalists. If I were a bettin' man, I'd put my money
on a homeless guy to survive TEOTWAWKI over the local
bank branch manager. how about you?

In its basic form, a
hobo stove is made from a tin can with its top removed.
Then punch several small holes near the upper edge and a
larger opening on the side of the near the bottom to
provide fuel and air. Here is the true hobo version:

Then there is the modern day version:

Sterno Portable Stoves

For cooking off the
grid, there is nothing better than having a portable
sterno stove in your bug out gear. Easy to store and
pack, Sterno burns clean and provides little potential
for comprising your location.

Cooking With
Charcoal

The classic backyard
option. One of the preps that we always recommend is
several bags of charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid.
We also highly recommend a cast iron grill as it is more
durable long term. In a future article, we will discuss
how to make your own charcoal once the Kingsford runs
out. Here is our choice for a Cast Iron charcoal grill:

Propane Stoves

Even if you don't have
propane fueled fireplaces, we suggest having multiple
propane tanks to be used as an alternative fuel source
post TEOTWAWKI. Propane fuel comes in cylinders as small
as 16 ounces to as large as 500 pounds for residential
use. If you heat your home with propane, always keep
your tanks full. Also, install a propane grill
attached to the tank. This is an excellent method of off
grid cooking until, of course, the propane runs out. For
bugging out, consider a one burner stove and
corresponding propane fuel canisters. This is our
choice.

Blended Fuels
Stoves

One of the downsides
to Butane Fuel cooking is the fact that near freezing
conditions, the butane may not burn efficiently.
However, a company called Primus has developed a blended
four season mix called "Power Gas". These blended fuel
stove include propane, butane and isobutane. They are
efficient, safe and easy to transport.

Solar Ovens

A solar oven or solar
cooker harnesses the power of the sun to create an off
the grid fuel source to power an oven. Using aluminum
reflectors to bake foods, a solar oven concentrates the
suns rays which converts sunlight to heat, and thus
energy. It is a year round method of cooking as it is
not effected by falling temperatures.

There are DIY methods
of creating a solar oven which will be discussed at
length in a future article. Here are our
recommendations for a solar oven:

The method you choose for cooking off grid will be
location driven. In my opinion this is yet another
factor which should encourage you to move to your
Bug Out Location now.